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Young people from Cologne have compiled a website on activites for a Sunday

“We, the people, our personalities and our relationships, shall be at the centre of society. However, relationships cannot be sustained without caring for them. The Sunday is dedicated to this, it is the day of promise and recovery for our week”. This statement is part of a declaration in favour of a work-free Sunday, which the young people of Kolpingverband Cologne have recently drawn up to demonstrate their commitment to the European Sunday Alliance. Yet, their declaration is just one part of a creative compilation of song texts, team games, and recommendations for spare-time activities for a Sunday.

Labelled as “Kolping Youth is making Sunday” (“Kolpingjugend macht Sonntag”), the participating adolescents compiled a website to share their ideas for a perfect day at the end of the week. Subdivided into the following three categories “Sunday through faith and church”, “Sunday for you and me”, and “Sunday for the society and politics” interested youth groups can find useful background information, such as several citations of German laws on Sunday protection, but also creative drawings from a painting contest as well as concepts for youth Masses and group meetings on a Sunday. The aim of the young people is to highlight the importance of Sunday as the weekly day of rest for society while at the same time providing youth groups with creative and inspiring input for their meetings.

As Kolping Europe is part of the European Sunday Alliance, Kolping Youth is not willing to give over the Sunday to more shopping hours. In their opinion, it would scarcely increase the volume of sales, but rather lead to a shift in takings at the expense of the employees and of small and medium-scale commercial enterprises.

Joining together to promote a work-free Sunday and decent working hours, the European Sunday Alliance is a committed network of national Sunday Alliances, trade unions, civil society organisations and religious communities. As set out in the Founding Statement, the Europe-wide initiative aims at raising awareness of the unique value of synchronised free time for European societies.